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Paz de la Huerta Sues for Injury While Filming 'Nurse 3D'

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on July 23, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Actress Paz de la Huerta's career is ruined! Or, so she claims.

Do you remember the movie Nurse 3D? No? Well, you're not alone. Paz de la Huerta claims her injury while filming the movie and the director's horrible dub job wrecked her career. So, she's suing for $55 million.

Nurse Down!

Paz de la Huerta filmed Nurse 3D in Canada in 2011. In the movie, de la Huerta plays a crazy nurse on a mission to kill cheating men.

During one stunt scene, an ambulance was supposed to whiz by de la Huerta. Instead, the car's side mirror clipped her, causing the actress to fall to the ground and injuring her spine. In addition to the injury, de la Huerta alleges that the director hired another actress to dub over de la Huerta's scenes.

You probably haven't heard of Nurse 3D because the movie bombed, earning only $5 million overall, falling short of its $10 million budget. De la Huerta claims that the injury and the bad dubbing destroyed her career. The actress is suing production company Lionsgate, producer Michael Paseornek, stunt coordinator Layton Morrison, director Boris Mojsovski, and the stunt driver, demanding $55 million and an order requiring the director to re-dub the movie with her voice.

You Can't Sue!

In response, Lionsgate is claiming that the actress has no right to sue for injuries. The company wants the lawsuit dismissed because they claim they already compensated de la Huerta $73,000 through workers' compensation.

Workers' Compensation and Suing

In all states, employees injured while working cannot sue their employers for damages, unless certain exceptions apply. Normally, an employee can only get money by making a workers' compensation claim, which pays for the employee's medical bills and lost wages.

An employee may be able to file both a workers' compensation claim and sue in court only if the employer intentionally hurt the employee, or a third party was also responsible for the employee's injury. In the first situation, the employee would be able to sue the employer. In the second situation, the employee would have to get compensation from the employer through workers' compensation, and can only sue the third party for additional damages.

In this case, if Lionsgate claim that it already paid de la Huerta workers' compensation is true, then the case will likely be dismissed. However, de la Huerta may still have a third-party claim against the stunt driver who hit her.

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